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Monday, January 5, 2015

Trains on Ice

by Anita Mae Draper

Some of you may be familiar with ice roads from watching tv shows like the History channel's reality series, Ice Road Truckers. Ice roads have been used for years as an efficient method of travel where ice freezes to a deep thickness from December to March or April.

Transportation hay
to market across the St. Lawrence River, QC, 1903. Courtesy of McCord Museum
VIEW-3618

And along with vehicle roads on ice, there were ice bridges for trains, often called ice railways. Now trains are heavy when compared to early cars or horses and hay wagons, and even much heavier than the 18-wheel trucks you see on Ice Road Truckers which means you need very thick ice to support the weight. Extremely thick ice.

Back in the early 1980's when I was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and on exercise in Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories, I got my first look at an ice road. It seemed to be nothing more than a line slaking across the North Arm of Great Slave Lake as shown in this photo I took on that cold March day.

Now imagine a heavy locomotive travelling on that stretch. Scary, isn't it? Why did railway owners take the chance with their freight and human lives to travel across ice? Time, money, practicality.

Before the railway bridge was erected in 1883 at Bismark, ND, goods and people were transported across the Missouri River by steamboats. When the river froze however, they erected a railway to continue the service.

The following 2 photographs show the Northern Pacific laying track and then crossing the frozen Missouri River at Bismark. In the Harper's Weekly image, railroad workers laying ties and rails across the ice while people watch. In the background, a train in reverse position with a flatbed provides the materials necessary to complete the task.

Across
the Missouri River by rail, at Bismarck, Dakota, 1879. Courtesy of the
Territory Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo (Folio 102.TrR34.1a)

An 1880 ice bridge across the St Lawrence River was created as a protest against the high cost of using Montreal's Victoria Bridge. When the Grand Trunk Railroad opened the
Victoria Bridge in 1859, it was hailed as the 8th Wonder of the World. However, the 6 million dollar price tag needed to be recouped somehow and it was done by charging high rates to cross.

Instead of using the bridge, competitor trains were ferried across the river in summer. Once the river froze to a minimum depth of 60 cm/24 inches along the 2 km/1.24 mile stretch, extra-wide beams placed every 7 feet helped distribute the heavy weight evenly over the wide surface area.

Here's another view of the above ice bridge, also taken by noted photographer, William Notman. In this photo, you can clearly see how the tracks were placed upon the ice.

Ice Bridge across the St Lawrence, 1880. Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada William Notman Collection

Unfortunately, on January 5, 1881, the ice suddenly gave way beneath the locomotive and it sank, but not before the passengers were able to scramble out and away. This is depicted in the following drawing found in the January 15, 1881 Canadian Illustrated News.

History notes that the very next day, a lighter train was used and the train continued ferrying goods and people across the river each winter until 1883.

Sometimes ice bridges were put up for a single use occasion, such as on
Christmas Eve, 1879, when rails were laid on the ice across the Red River from St. Boniface to Winnipeg, Manitoba in order to receive a new locomotive, the "J.G. Haggart", which had been purchased from the Baldwin Locomotive
Works of Philadelphia.

In 1899, the Scientific American reported that the Trans Siberian Railroad had built an ice bridge across the River Irtish and Baikal
Lake.

And finally in 1923, Alaska Railroad built an ice bridge across the Tanana River at Nenana just prior to completing the railroad.

Alaska
Railroad engine crossing the Tanana River on the ice at Nenana, 1923. Courtesy of Wikicommons.

1923 is the last reference I've found of a train crossing on ice. I suppose that with vehicles increasing in size and roads becoming easier to travel long distance trucking supplanted the need. Light vehicles certainly would have been safer.

But oh, it would have been majestic to watch a huffing locomotive travel across the frozen water.

Don't you think so?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper is retired from the
Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan,
Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their four kids. She
writes cowboy stories set in the West, and Edwardian stories set in the
East. Anita is blessed to have two short stories in Guideposts BooksA Cup of Christmas Cheer collection which includes Here
We Come A-Wassailing, published
in Volume
4 Heartwarming Tales of Christmas Present, October 2014, andRiding on a Christmas Wish published in Volume 1 Talesof Faith and Family. Anita Mae is represented by Mary Keeley
of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita Mae
at www.anitamaedraper.com

26 comments:

Wow! I'd never heard of ice roads or ice bridges. I doubt it gets cold enough here in California to form ice thick enough to support vehicles. I have cross county skied across a frozen lake in the Sierras. Not all that impressive, I know, but it was kinda cool.

Keli, did you see any ice fishing huts when you were skiing across the frozen lake? Ice fishing is a big sport up here and even here in Southern Saskatchewan the guys haul their huts out behind their trucks and bring them back the same way.

I cross-country skied in the Rocky Mountains foothills and found that very inspiring. :)

Debbie Lynne, the ice railroads would have taken a day or so to construct, but once built, would last for 2-3 months and save hundreds of hours in travel time. Or, in the case of the Alaska train, be able to continue building the track into the wilderness when a regular bridge hadn't been built yet.

Yes, they were brave. Personally, I believe it took more guts to face the hardships of settling North America than most people like to think. Dangers were at every turn and yet they didn't have any of today's conveniences and technology. Brave indeed.

I live in OK, and the water here rarely freezes. It's so hard for me to imagine ice strong enough to hold a train. I wonder who first thought that up and what kind of looks he got when he tried to convince others. Thanks for the interesting post!

Thanks, Vickie. You reminded me of a fact that I forgot to add to this post...that "lighter train" that the Grand Trunk Railway used after the first one crashed through the ice weighed a total of 60 tons!

You're welcome, Paula. Since I was born in Northwestern Ontario, I'm not a newbie to ice fishing and still remember my awe the first time I saw the ice thickness. My uncle used a large bore ice auger to drill through the ice and after a few minutes of sweating, he hollered, "Watch out!" With a grunt, he heaved up the auger and the area around the hole and his boots flooded with water. I thought he was going through the ice, but the water levelled off and what was left soon froze. I looked down into the black hole and couldn't believe that the ice was over a foot thick.

But my most memorable event on ice was one March day when hubby and I had gone out with my uncle and aunt. They were on the skidoo pulling us in the toboggan and after a long day of ice fishing, we were heading back. As we were dragged along, I could hear the ice cracking around us. It didn't break, and I never saw water, but just the sound was something I never want to hear again.

This was so interesting! We've known about ice road truckers but not that the actually sent trains across the ice. I shared this with my husband & he was surprised too.. So fun to read your history research...

Interesting post, Anita. My grandparents and family pioneered in Saskatchewan in the 1920's. My mom was just a little girl, around 7 or 8 years old, I think. My grandfather was lame in one leg, and the winters just got to be too much for them, so they moved back to Indiana. Can't even imagine trains moving across the ice.

Oh... a lame leg would really hurt if arthritis had set in. Our winters don't show mercy at all. My arthritis acts up when it's cold. And when it's gonna rain. And when it's... well, you get the picture. Good for your grandparents to bite the bullet and leave when they could. You come from smart stock.

I enjoyed reading about this. I, too, didn't realize that back in the day they actually erected railroads over frozen rivers for use during the winter months. A modern-day ice road exists almost every winter in Bayfield Wisconsin. The small town sits on the shores of Lake Superior and about a mile offshore is Madeline Island. The island has a year-round population that takes a ferry back and forth to the mainland for school and work. In the winter the water freezes, even while the large open waters of Lake Superior may never freeze. This is because the water between the mainland and the island is sheltered by the Apostle Islands. It's fascinating to watch videos taken from cars as they travel the ice road. You can go to You Tube and search for Madeline Island ice road and you can find them. Last year the ice road remained intact for a long while thanks to the Polar Vortex the Midwest suffered under for what seemed like months and months. Some years are much warmer and the road may only be viable for several weeks.

Yep, you got it, Pamela. The ice roads can be a real boon to people who rely on water for transportation. Thanks so much for sharing. I'd never heard of Madeline Island, but I'm going to look it up on YouTube. :)

My great great grandfather, Anthony Egan, suggested the ice crossing by the J.G Haggart locomotive on the Red River between St. Boniface and Winnipeg in December 1879 (noted in historic dates in Canadian Railroad history). The Winnipeg Fire Department sprayed water to freeze the rails to the ice. The engineer would not proceed across unless Egan was in the cab with him. A crowd gathered expecting the locomotive to end up in the bottom of the river. The crossing was successful and the group apparently celebrated at one of the local establishments. The J G Haggart was then used to build the first track west of Winnipeg. It was interesting to see an episode of Hell on Wheels where a similar crossing was attempted and the locomotive ended up in the river.

d egan, your 2xgrandfather was a brilliant man for suggesting it. I suspect the hardest part would have been travelling up and down the banks to get to the river - but then it was probably higher back then than it is today. Fascinating history you have. I wish I had been there. I used to live in Winnipeg but have to admit I didn't appreciate the history as a teenager as much as I do now that older, wiser, and a province over. I don't watch Hell on Wheels but will look into it. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences with us. Thanks!

d egan, your 2xgrandfather was a brilliant man for suggesting it. I suspect the hardest part would have been travelling up and down the banks to get to the river - but then it was probably higher back then than it is today. Fascinating history you have. I wish I had been there. I used to live in Winnipeg but have to admit I didn't appreciate the history as a teenager as much as I do now that older, wiser, and a province over. I don't watch Hell on Wheels but will look into it. I really appreciate you sharing your experiences with us. Thanks!

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